Gust Sadowska

A page from the Marshfield Police Department in 1943 posted on Facebook, showed a citation for begging given to a man from Bruce, Wis. He had ten days to get out of town.

The arresting officer was Gust Sadowska. Gust and his wife lived in the high – rise retirement center behind Immanuel Lutheran Church. Every month I would bring communionto them. Gust had been a boxer, a county sheriff and Marshfield police officer. Even in his 80’s he was a burly fellow. Not the person with whom I would have wanted to mess.

On a side table sat an 8X10 photo of a young man in an army uniform. One day Gust talked about the young man in the photo. He their son, I think perhaps their only child. He had fought in North Africa during world War II. As Gust talked about his son, his eyes filled with tears. His son had been lost in battle in the desert. His body was never recovered.

For Gust, the story was never complete. It had no ending. He had a photo of his son, but he did not have a grave site to which he could go to make that loss real. Death always leaves a hole in one’s life. But for Gust and his wife, as for many others in similar situations, there was a question mark, but there could never be a period.